Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Hispanic Heritage Month: Adult Fiction List

Community,

As promised here are a few recommended titles from Stella at My World, Mi Mundo, author, Mayra Lazara and I included a few from Eva at A Striped Chair. How many have you read, what's on your tbr list, which do you own or have heard of?

Of course, no list is complete (find our YA list here). We want your input so our list can be as comprehensive as we all can make it. Leave your titles and comments in the comment section. Our list begins with:


1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
3. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
4. I The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos
5. In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
5. How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
6. Something To Declare by Julia Alvarez
7. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
8. City of the Beast by Isabel Allende
9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
10. The Island of Eternal Love by Daina Chaviano
11.The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
12. Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina Lopez
13. A Girl Like Che Guevara by Teresa de la Caridad Doval
14. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter: A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa
15. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
16. My Wicked Ways by Sandra Cisneros (poetry)
17. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
18. Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia
19. Memory Mamboby by Achy Obejas
20. When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

21. Let It Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz
22. Almost A Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
23. Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande
24. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

22 comments:

Ana S. said...

I'd suggest adding:

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo
Drown by Junot Díaz
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Thanks for doing this, and I look forward to seeing everyone else's suggestions!

Color Online said...

cool beans. thanks.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Allison said...

I haven't read any of these, but I saw part of the movie of Like Water for Chocolate! Very interesting.

Mayra Lazara Dole said...

Tina, that was an EXCELLENT hispanic books list. thanks! she has my exact same site. weird! : )

Daína Chaviano said...

Thanks for including my novel "The Island of Eternal Love" in this list. The book is already part of the syllabus in several universities and colleges throughout US. I hope the readers of this blog like it. ;-))

Unknown said...

I love the Color Online reading list!

Here's the link to my blog about "Our Hispanic Literary Heritage" with another reading list (I deleted my previous post because the link wasn't working).

http://bookgoddess.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/our-hispanic-literary-heritage/

Color Online said...

Thanks, Tina.

Welcome, Daina,

Thank you very much for commenting. Glad to hear from you. Will add links you sent me.

Anonymous said...

Huellas de la literatura hispanoamericana. It's a survey literature book that is an AMAZING introduction to short stories and poetry.

Cute story alert!

My boyfriend gave me two posters of Sonnet XVII by Neruda that is in the book of poetry you listed above, one in English and one in Spanish. Before we started dating, I told him I thought the third stanza was the most beautiful thing ever written, and he remembered and gave it to me in poster form. Still the sweetest gift he's ever given me.

Mayra Lazara Dole said...

Daina, soy la autora que escribio parte de la lista de libros/autores Latinos para Color Online y recomende su libro-- your writing is masterful and i hope Color Online folks read you.

Regularrumination, i added Neruda to the list because he's the most passionate poet in LatinAmerican lit. i wish EVERYONE would read him... he makes my heart beat fast... how i wish he were alive today and commenting on Color Online! i'd die of a patatu'!

Rebecca Reid said...

What an awesome list! Thanks so much for the ideas. I'm going to try to read something this month.

MissA said...

Pick up your award Susan http://blackteensread2.blogspot.com/2009/09/awards-catch-up-come-pick-up-your-award.html
Amazing List. Loved Dreaming in Cuban, In the Time of the Butterflies and the Brife & Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao.
I'm trying to master Spanish enough to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work in Spanish :)

Lyn Miller-Lachmann said...

Great list from Stella, Mayra, and Eva. I'd like to recommend some biographies for fans of the genre:

I, Rigoberta Menchu. Even though some of the events are fictionalized or have been questioned, the basic story has not, and it's a window into the Mayan culture and the politics that led to the destruction of hundreds of indigenous villages and the killing of more than 100,000 people during Guatemala's civil war. Read along with Marge Pellegrino's new MG novel Journey of Dreams.

The Country Under My Skin, by Gioconda Belli. Nicaraguan poet and novelist Belli describes how she, the daughter of a wealthy family, came to support the Sandinista revolution against the Somoza dictatorship and why she broke with them in the 1980s.

Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, by Jacobo Timerman. Journalist Timerman recounts his imprisonment and torture during Argentina's Dirty War and also touches on the dilemmas faced by the country's Jewish community, the largest in Latin America.

And a play: Death and the Maiden, by Ariel Dorfman. What happens when a torture victim comes face to face with her torturer?

Lyn Miller-Lachmann said...

Actually, these are memoirs rather than biographies. Sorry.

Daína Chaviano said...

Thanks, Susan and Mayra. I added a link to my Facebook page for this blog. I hope you can post the US (English) covers and the link to the book trailer. I wish you all my best.

Color Online said...

Thank Lyn,

A great list. Will add.

Thanks to all for a very positive response.

We have winners to announce for Potpourri, On The Line and Little Lov'n Monday.

I strongly encourage members to be more active, enter for our contests, giveaways and submit reviews. We have a great Prize Bucket and it continues to grow. Our aim is to connect you with great reads and that includes sending them to you so participate, people. :-)

Akilah said...

Dirty Girls Social Club!

Doret said...

I just finished Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llano-Figueroa

I loved it. The second half my eyes were filled with tears for the most part.

Nadege said...

The House on Mango Street was
delightful, so authentically
narrated, that I felt as if I
were sitting with a friend.

Beverly said...

I was going to add Daughters of the Stone but I see someone else did. The story is about mutli-generational Afro-Puerto Rican women.

I actually enjoyed the storylines of the women at the beginning of the book.

Becca said...

I have How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents on my TBR list for 2009 so I will make sure I get it done during October. Thanks for reminding me about this. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi All,
I'm promoting some Latina authors right now.
Werewolf Dreams M.M. Anderson abt a cop on the beat http://www.werewolfdreams.net @werewolf_Dreams

DEATH AT SOLSTICE by Lucha Corpi info Latinoteca.com here: http://bit.ly/3LyW69 @ArtePublico

Grand Central Publishing - SINS OF THE FLESH by @CaridadPineiro Debut: Oct 27 Info: http://www.caridad.com

Great authors. Enjoy
Jo Ann Hernandez
BronzeWord Latino Authors
http://autorslatino.com/wordpress